A quiet village in eastern India turned into a scene of chaos and heartbreak after a herd of wild elephants stormed through the area, leaving six people dead — including a family of four with two young children.
The deadly stampede happened early Friday morning in Gondwar, a village in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district. Local forest officials confirmed that the victims were trampled while trying to escape after the elephants entered the village.
Authorities said villagers had been warned when the herd first moved into the area the night before. But when panic set in and families rushed from their homes, tragedy struck.
“We had alerted villagers through the public address system,” forest officer Vikas Kumar Ujjwal told local outlets. “Unfortunately, when people tried to flee, six of them were trampled to death.”
Among those killed were four members of the same family. Two of the victims were just a 1-year-old toddler and a 3-month-old baby. A relative told local media that the two children had been left alone during the chaos.
Another child was seriously injured in the attack and remains hospitalized in Hazaribag, officials said.
The herd had reportedly been roaming across multiple districts in recent days, with earlier attacks also reported in nearby areas. Authorities described the elephants as aggressive and moving quickly, making it difficult for forest staff to track them.
“The herd is quite aggressive and has been moving very fast,” Ujjwal said, adding that officials have formed a special team to monitor the animals around the clock.
The state’s Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change has requested permission to tranquilize the herd in an effort to prevent further loss of life. Wildlife experts have also been called in to help steer the elephants away from residential areas.
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